


How Bucky Met Steve

by everybodylies



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 05:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2096865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everybodylies/pseuds/everybodylies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky tells the Avengers the story of how he met Steve. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Bucky Met Steve

**Author's Note:**

> This story disregards any canon from Captain America: First Vengeance, which is a prequel comic for the movies.

"I saved him from some bullies," he tells Pepper and Thor, buffing his metal fingers on his shirt. "He was in an alley about to get creamed, and I breezed in there like a hero. We've been best friends ever since."

"Aw, that's adorable," Pepper gushes, while Thor says, "I cannot imagine a better way for two shield-brothers to meet. There is much honor in your story."

* * *

"I was one of the popular kids," he tells Natasha. "Steve admired me from afar. Then, one day, he wrote me this letter, asking to be my friend. It had a really nice drawing of my face in it. I was feeling generous at the time, so I said yes."

"Uh-huh," says Natasha, who clearly does not believe him.

* * *

"I pounded his skull in," he tells Sam, who keeps trying to get him to come down to the VA for some counseling. "Which is exactly what I'm gonna do to you if you don't shut it. Now, scram."

Sam chuckles. "You know you're basically a walking caricature of an old person, right?" he replies, raising an eyebrow. "Also, you can't threaten me because I'm not scared of you anymore."

Bucky frowns and then puts on his best Winter Soldier face. "Well, you should be," he growls, but he can't get the menace into his words right these days, and Sam doesn't flinch, just leans over and burps in his face.

* * *

"He peed his pants the first day of kindergarten," he tells Tony, "and I was the one the teacher told to walk him over to the secretary's office."

Tony laughs and laugh and laughs, and when he finally finishes, he wipes a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's rich, Barnes. That's amazing." For the first time in the conversation, Tony actually puts down his screwdriver and the tech he's tinkering with. "This opens up so many opportunities for me. _So many_ , you understand. But what to invest in? Captain Pee Your Pants? No, too obvious, Stark!" Tony hits himself in the head lightly. "It's too obvious; I need something better."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something," Bucky says.

* * *

He reads all the biographies, checks all the websites, even takes another trip to the Smithsonian. Only, they don't have what he's looking for. Why would they? And how would they?

"I don't remember." He hates those words, hates saying them. They make him feel like a failure. But people keep asking, and so casually at that because they don't know what they're doing. He's not going to admit defeat, not over something so simple, not over something that he should know. So he lies.

* * *

"You're hilarious," Steve remarks dryly when he comes home that night with bags of Chinese take-out in his hands.

"What?" Bucky asks from where he's sprawled out on the couch. "I mean, I know I'm hilarious, but what are you talking about?"

Steve starts setting the table, and Bucky hurries over to the kitchen hungrily. While Steve's not looking, Bucky uses his fingers to eat some noodles straight from the box.

"Tony kept calling me Captain Pissbaby today," Steve says, and Bucky chokes on his food. "Also, Captain Edward J. Smith."

"Who?"

"Captain of the Titanic," Steve replies, and Bucky is pleased to find that he sounds more amused than annoyed. "Clever, if a bit obscure. Luckily Natasha and Pepper were there to help me convince Tony that he'd been lied to."

Bucky shrugs. "Everybody just kept asking so many questions. I figured I'd have some fun."

They sit down to eat, and as they spoon food onto their plates, Steve adds, "I'm curious, though. Do remember how we actually met?"

Bucky's face darkens, and he stares pointedly at his food. He doesn't reply for a long time.

"… Buck?" Steve tries gently.

"No, I don't," Bucky says. "I don't wanna talk about it."

He glances at Steve to see realization dawning on him. "Oh, is this what you've been moping about for the past week?"

"I haven't been 'moping' about—"

" _Bucky_."

"It's an important memory," Bucky moans. "I should remember it. I should—I should—"

Steve reaches over and puts a warm hand on Bucky's metal shoulder. "Hey, listen. I don't remember how we met either."

"… You don't?"

"No, I don't," Steve laughs. "We were six years old, Buck! I barely remember anything from that age."

"Oh," Bucky says, feeling embarrassed but also relieved.

"All I remember is I didn't have a best friend, and then one day, there you were, like you'd always been there. I don't remember starting, I just remember _being_."

"That's… a nice way to put it," Bucky says.

"You know, sometimes I wish I did remember. It's probably a good story. But I think, when you've been friends with someone for so long, some things just aren't as important as you think they are."

"Well," Bucky says, stuffing a piece of chicken in his mouth, his good humor returned, "at least I remember when we first met for the second time. Remember that?"

"Yes, how could I forget," Steve croons. "You looked like a raccoon, and you tried to kill my boss."

"I did _not_ ," Bucky objects. "Look like a raccoon, I mean. I did try to kill your boss, though. That did happen."

* * *

This is how it actually happened. (It's a good story.)

On one cold, blistering winter day, Bucky Barnes shakes down a kid for his lunch money.

The next day, Bucky sneezes on his way out of school, and a kid, the same kid, nothing but bones and skinny as death, offers to lend Bucky his hat. Bucky just stares at the proffered hat and the tousled blond hair on the kid's head, and eventually he realizes that what he's got here, on his hands, is a very special kind of stupid. And if this kid wants to make it to his next birthday, somebody's gotta be there to help him out.

So Bucky steadfastly refuses the offer, and instead, he puts his arm around Steve Rogers' scrawny shoulders and walks him all the way home.

And the rest, as they say, is history.


End file.
